Menil Collection to reopen historic Fresco Building in late 2027

The Menil Collection says its former Byzantine Fresco Chapel, now called the Fresco Building, will reopen in late 2027 with a new site-specific installation by Teresita Fernández.

The announcement, made June 17, 2026, places the reopening in the same year the museum marks its 40th anniversary. The Menil said the space will continue its role as a venue for semi-permanent, single-artist commissions.

A building with a shifting history

The building first opened in 1997 as the Byzantine Fresco Chapel Museum, created to display 13th-century Byzantine frescoes. It was later repurposed by the Menil, and the museum now says Fernández will lead the next major reimagining of the space.

Fernández, who is based in Brooklyn, is known for large-scale work that often engages landscape, spirituality and spatial experience. The Menil said the new installation will explore landscape, spirituality and the human condition.

Part of a broader campus plan

Menil Director Rebecca Rabinow said the new work will join the museum’s other single-artist buildings: the Cy Twombly Gallery and the Dan Flavin Installation at Richmond Hall.

The Fresco Building project is also part of a wider set of campus updates slated for 2027. The Menil said the Menil House restoration and Menil Bookstore renovation are both expected to be completed that year.

The museum has not yet released a separate public project page with renderings or a fuller construction timetable, and details of Fernández’s installation have not been disclosed beyond its site-specific format.